Analysis of the effect of megalopolises on water quality in surface water bodies by ecological-toxicological characteristics

Data of long-term observations of Roshydromet and the studies of the authors’ studies of hydrochemical, hydrobiological, and bioassaying characteristics and appropriate publications in the areas of megalopolises—the cities of Rostov-on-Don and Novosibirsk are analyzed. Similar and distinctive characteristics of water quality by these ecological-toxicological characteristics are identified; trends in the long-term year-to-year variations in water quality are established, criteria and characteristics reflecting the effect of cities on water bodies in their territory are determined. The identity of some chemical-toxicological criteria and the characteristics of the influence of cities in southern Russia and Siberia on water bodies suggest that they can also be used in urban area in other regions. The Lower Don is used as an example to show that water pollution by metals is mostly due to wastewater discharge, while water pollution by petroleum products and sulfates has no direct relation to that.     

Geochemistry and genesis of magmatic PGE-bearing Cu-Ni sulphide deposit in Wadi Bayhan,southeastern Yemen

The Wadi Bayhan mafic-ultramafic intrusions associated with magmatic PGE-bearing Cu-Ni sulphide deposit are located in the south margin of the Arabian-Nubian Shield,SW Yemen.The intrusions consist of dunite,olivine-pyroxenite,lherzolite,hornblendite,gabbro and gabbronorite.The dunite and lherzolite are the main host rock for the Cu-Ni ores.The new data of the chemical compositions of the rocks have SiO2(50%-53.6%),Al2O3(0-32%) and MgO(4%-28%),and relatively low TiO2(0-3.2%) and K2O+Na2O(0.04%-5.2%).The geoc...     

Evaluation of stratospheric ozone,temperature, and aerosol profiles from the LOANA lidar in Antarctica

We present an evaluation of observations from the Lidar Ozone and Aerosol for NDACC in Antarctica (LOANA) at the Dumont d’Urville station, Antarctica. This instrument is part of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC), and ensures continuity with lidar measurements made since 1989 with the previous instrument at this site. This study is based on the dataset from 2008 to 2009, and comparisons are made with observations from balloon soundings, and from three satellite experiments: Aura/MLS, TIMED/SABER, and CALIOP/CALIPSO. The lidar ozone data are in very good agreement with the balloon sounding data (ECC sensor), revealing a bias of less than 3% between 17 and 34 km. For temperature, the lidar shows a low bias of ?3 K at 20 km when compared with Aura/MLS. Between 30 and 50 km, the bias is less than 2 K. We also present our initial results showing diurnal variations in temperature. The amplitude of these diurnal cycles is on the order of 1 K and is unlikely to account for the temperature biases between LOANA and the reference instruments. Comparisons of total attenuated backscatter reveal good qualitative agreement between LOANA and CALIOP, with differences of less than 30% in the derived optical depth.     

Analysis of MDI High-Degree Mode Frequencies and their Rotational Splittings

We present a detailed analysis of solar acoustic mode frequencies and their rotational splittings for modes with degree up to 900. They were obtained by applying spherical harmonic decomposition to full-disk solar images observed by the Michelson Doppler Imager onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft. Global helioseismology analysis of high-degree modes is complicated by the fact that the individual modes cannot be isolated, which has limited so far the use of high-degree data for structure inversion of the near-surface layers (r>0.97R _⊙). In this work, we took great care to recover the actual mode characteristics using a physically motivated model which included a complete leakage matrix. We included in our analysis the following instrumental characteristics: the correct instantaneous image scale, the radial and non-radial image distortions, the effective position angle of the solar rotation axis, and a correction to the Carrington elements. We also present variations of the mode frequencies caused by the solar activity cycle. We have analyzed seven observational periods from 1999 to 2005 and correlated their frequency shift with four different solar indices. The frequency shift scaled by the relative mode inertia is a function of frequency alone and follows a simple power law, where the exponent obtained for the p modes is twice the value obtained for the f modes. The different solar indices present the same result.     

Large-Scale Atmospheric–Oceanic Interaction Regimes in the Norwegian and Barents Seas

Doklady Earth Sciences - Large-scale atmosphere–ocean interaction in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic Ocean is analyzed. New studies demonstrate that the variability of Atlantic water inflow...     

Features of the solar-type activity of stars with various depths of the convective zone

The levels of chromospheric and coronal activity of the Sun are compared with new vast observations of late-type stars. The solar chromosphere turned to be more powerful than in the main body of stars and the corona is considerably weakened. A wavelet analysis of activity indices and measurement results for the magnetic field of the Sun as a star was performed for several solar cycles. It was obtained that solar activity in the differential rotation differs from phenomena on less massive K stars with cycles and, in contrast to them, the large-scale magnetic field of the Sun is a regulating factor for active processes. These results can be naturally explained with the assumption that the activity of a star with a given mass depends on the depth of the lower base of the convective zone. This seems to require the development of knowledge about the two-level dynamo and a new approach to studying solar-type activity.     

Diagnostic modelling of within-water processes in reservoirs

The objectives of diagnostic calculations using mathematical models of reservoirs are formulated. The structure of a box hydrological model GMV-MGU is described, and the results of calculation of daily water balance, internal heat exchange structure, and heat balance of individual areas in the Mozhaisk and Rybinsk reservoirs are given. First results of calculation of variations in mean daily phytoplankton biomass in the near-dam pool of a weakly eutrophic water body in period of spring (diatoms) and summer (blue-green) blooming are presented.